The campus community took part Thursday in the Reading of the Names, a daylong program on the front steps of Moseley Center organized by Elon Hillel.
Victims of the Holocaust were remembered throughout the day Thursday as Elon students, faculty and staff volunteers stood by the entrance to Moseley Center to read thousands of their names aloud during Yom HaShoah.
One of Elon University’s annual traditions is the Reading of the Names, a day set aside for the campus community members to spend time on the front steps of Moseley Center reading the names of some of the millions killed during the Holocaust.
“This event is important to the Elon community because although there is not a very large Jewish community and presence, the Holocaust affected way more than just Jewish people,” said Leah Kay, one of the students who coordinated the event this year. “It’s an important event in world history that is necessary to remember so such an atrocity does not happen again.”
Among the names of those killed are not only Jews, but also members of the LGBTQ community, sects of Christians, the Roma/Sinti community and those with mental or physical disabilities. Readers participate in 10-minute intervals and anyone can sign up.
The Reading of the Names took place toward the end of Holocaust Remembrance Week. During the week, Elon had a special table at College Coffee, a screening of the film “One Survivor Remembers,” as well as tables inside Moseley Center with cards from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for students to find stories of both victims and survivors.
Elon’s programming concludes Friday evening with a special Shabbat dinner at the Sklut Hillel Center. A commemoration of the Holocaust with readings and the lighting of a Yarhzeit candle takes place prior to the meal.
For many of the millions of people murdered by the Nazis for their beliefs, sexual orientation or ethnicity, a name is all that exists to tell the world they were once here. There are no photos. There are no graves. Increasingly, as Holocaust survivors reach their 80s and 90s, there are fewer people alive today who knew the victims at all.
“I think it’s very important,” said junior Hannah Wilpon, who read at this year’s event. “We really only take time out of our lives on this one day every year to really reflect an remember both the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. By reading the names we are acknowledging that we still remember them.”